Late Friday, Tiger Woods released a statement on his website after two weeks (seriously, it’s only been two weeks) of controversy. It all started with the National Enquirer report that Tiger had been carrying on an affair with Rachel Uchitel. Then, late Thanksgiving, early Friday morning, Tiger Woods got into a bizarre car accident right outside of his Florida estate. Two weeks later, and nearly one mistress per day, Tiger is announcing (in only his second statement in two weeks) that he is taking an “indefinite break” from golf so that he can spend time with his family:
I am deeply aware of the disappointment and hurt that my infidelity has caused to so many people, most of all my wife and children. I want to say again to everyone that I am profoundly sorry and that I ask forgiveness. It may not be possible to repair the damage I’ve done, but I want to do my best to try.
I would like to ask everyone, including my fans, the good people at my foundation, business partners, the PGA Tour, and my fellow competitors, for their understanding.
What’s most important now is that my family has the time, privacy, and safe haven we will need for personal healing.
After much soul searching, I have decided to take an indefinite break from professional golf. I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father, and person.
Again, I ask for privacy for my family and I am especially grateful for all those who have offered compassion and concern during this difficult period.
[From Tiger Woods’ Website]
This comes across as very self-pitying, yes? Like “oh, woe is me, I’ve been screwing all of these women, you won’t believe what I’ve been through.” Too harsh? My mom actually feels sympathy for Tiger – of course, she thinks he’s a horrible womanizer, but she says “poor Tiger” over and over.
Here’s my question: why take a leave from golf? If “golf” is associated with “screwing anything with two legs and a pulse”? Is this one of Elin’s conditions for staying with him? Or is this Tiger’s way of pre-empting some bigger scandal yet to break? Perhaps something involving a mountain goat, handcuffs and Ecstasy? “Crazy Ambien sex” with men? Someone underage? At this point, your guess is as good as mine.
Well, at least he wasn’t making any excuses this time. And honestly, he’s so overexposed at this point he needs to go on hiatus, because although people will not forget over time this story will not be sensational anymore and everyone will have moved on to the newest scandal. Furthermore, tournaments mean travel and travel apparently means sticking anything that moves and he doesn’t need the further speculation.
I’m not one to trust “reformed” cheaters as his wayward dick seems to be a chronic condition, but I’m not the one married to him.
I’m one of those who thinks Tiger is a total scumbag now and Elin should leave him. But, that being said, I’m actually pretty impressed by this statement (as it compares to statements from other celebs who have screwed up). It admits that he was unfaithful, admits that he’s done a lot of damage (maybe too much to repair), and admits that he needs to be a better person in every way. I don’t know if he really means any of it but, from the standpoint of judging celebrity mea cuplas, I’d say this one is pretty good.
I’ve heard rumor he is going for a long cruise on his yacht, hope they have a marriage counselor on board. Glad he is dropping out of sight for a while even if he doesn’t need the peace and quiet his wife and children do.
I’m super impressed with his statement. There’s no “I’ve been under stress lately” or any bullshit like that. The message I got is, “I fucked up big time, I know it and I’m sorry and I’d like a chance to redeem myself a little.”
By taking a break from golf he gets to spend full time trying to repair his marriage, and it gives all the bad press time to lessen. Right now he cannot hit a golf ball without everyone adding side comments about his personal life.
He’ll return to golf eventually, and I hope it is with a happy family by his side.
Meanwhile, the press will be making money and market share featuring his stupidity in his personal life, but I wish all those trashy women would disappear soon. I doubt they will ever admit to what they really are.
Please, there is no repairing this marriage. My God, how could she ever trust him?
He does need to step out of the spotlight and think about what he has done to his family, friends and himself.
I am not that impressed by his statement. After all, what was he going to to? Deny what he has done?
too little, too late??
just like La Loca’s trip to India…
He got a good PR person to write his speech. Big deal. Hope his wife shows some backbone and dumps his ass.
I agree with Jess. He’s a scumbag and his wife should leave him. He won’t change, not at the rate he was screwing a whole bunch of hos. The ones out are just the tip of the iceberg. Not poor Tiger, poor Elin. I feel bad for his wife. He’s a big freak and has probably been into all kinds of shit we don’t know about—yet. What you do in the dark will come to light, Tiger. I would never ever be able to trust him.
I heard tonight that he had always wanted to eventually set a record score in golf and then get out. I guess you should be careful what you wish for. He set a record for being the biggest a**hole on the planet and now he is out whether he thinks he made the choice or not.
Though my thoughts upon reading his statement was that he only needs to escape the headlines and just using his wife and kids to show people that he’s doing the right thing and that he will be a “better man” and a “reformed man” when he makes his big comeback, i still wish his wife the best.
I understand Elin’s feelings to try to salvage the marriage since her parents divorced when she was young and left her living in a broken home. I really do. She chose to stay because that was what she wanted to happen during her parents’ marriage and thinks that this time, she won’t do the same to her kids, since for her, her parents’ made the wrong decision by divorcing.
But we all think that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. We want to think that we can do better compared to the things that our parents did that we think were so wrong that it messed up our whole lives growing up.
My parents decided to stay together after my dad’s transgression with another woman whom he declared was the love of his life. My mom felt 3 years of hiding the affair (which she knew since my dad would talk about the other woman to her all the time) from us kids. Because she was so in love with him, she did not want us to know about his affair, so that we won’t lose respect of him. But eventually i found out and i was old enuf then to understand what was going on. My dad even talked to me and put the blame on my mom for breaking our family. And it made me more betrayed and abhorent of him because he even had the nerve to make up stories about my mom. He did not even realize that she had suffered more than enuf from him. After a day since my mom threw him out, he came back and asked my mom for forgiveness and said that he realized that he couldn’t live without us. My mom and my younger siblings forgave him. But i couldn’t. Im the eldest and all my life I’ve looked up to him and thought that he was the perfect dad. But all that’s junk now.
That was 23 years ago. And even so that my family is still together, it never left my mind that he just came back to do the right thing and to show people that he’s changed, and not really because he loved us.
How could you ever say that you still love your wife when you have declared that you have found the love of your life ?
Maybe he meant it. Or maybe it’s just because of us kids. Even if I ask, of course he would say it’s because he loves us. But in my mind, since that’s what he said back then, it will always be that woman, for the rest of his life. No matter if he’s with us.
But everyday since then, as his child, i would always feel guilty that maybe we were keeping him from the love of his life and making him stay with us just because he HAD to make the right thing. For the kids’ sake. Maybe not because he WANTS to, but he HAD to. Like he’s just forced because it’s the right thing to do.Even if my mom swear that he loves us that’s why he chose us over that woman, who would ever know ? Only my dad would know. But that thought will never leave me until the day i die, just like the way dad would bring that lost love on his.
So Elin, i hope you made the right decision. I may never know how it feels like to have separated parents and a broken family like yours, i just wanted to share how it feels like to live a “lie”, in my own thinking.
With that, I wish you all the best. I’m just glad that your kids are still young to even remember the hurt that this has brought you and them. I just wish that I was their age when it happened to us too.
Goodluck and I really hope that everything would turn out fine with you and your family.
Even if my experience led me to believe that love does not exist, that there’s not a thing like forever, I am still hoping. It’s like you know that there’s no santa clause, but deep inside you, you still hope that there really is.
I’m sure his PR team said something like: people and the media love taking down celebrities with scandal, but they love a comeback story more than that. He’s either going to avoid golf for the whole year or he’ll just wait for the first major to come back. That will give him a good 4 months of laying low while the rest of the crap hits the fan.
Gad, this clown went from superstar to mild scandal to ludicrous farce and dirtbag inside 24 hours.
There has got to be a trophy of catastrophe for that somewhere.
I can’t imagine him ever taking to the green again without everyone quietly entertaining gawd-awful visions of him engaged in “Ambien sex” or any sex at all for that matter.
Even the slightest smirk, giggle or occasional “JUST DO IT!” catcall from the crowd will cause a warm staining on his pants as he bolts weeping.
Maybe he can box Tonya Harding or Danny Bonaducci to rehabilitate some of his image.
I’m sorry, but this Tiger Woods is done in my book. One or two indiscretions are bad enough, but this was an all-out massacre that he even seemed to try to continue even after being caught/his uncharged OUI.
Regardless of whether his wife had her suspicions, he smashed the hell out of her feelings wickedly and without care.
The timeline indicates clearly he never cared about her.
So, it’s obvious that what he’s caring about most now is IMAGE. Not caring of his wife or kids, but of the public ($$$$$$$$$).
-and that’s what this temporary bow-out is about, public image -not family healing.
I don’t get the moral outrage. He didn’t rape anyone. The only people who should give two @*#!s are his family. Americans and sex. Sheesh!
Well, Kaiser, I’m like your mother, I feel sorry for Tiger. Everybody is coming after him and every hooker and ‘ho in the country is getting paid to tell all about him. Plus, he’s getting hell from Elin and probably his mother and mother-in-law.
It seems to me he has made a decision that he wants to keep his family together and that’s a good thing. He’s decided that Elin and his two babies are more important to him than golf. I hope they all go off to that island off Stockholm and talk and work hard to get their marriage back on track. Good for him and I hope it works.
Please let it just end with this. This pile-on is too public and is just too much. I’m not saying he’s not a dick, but do we need to have all this excess of information pulsing at us from all directions?
I’d guess the “leaving professional golf” thing is Tigerese for “I’ll be getting the hell out off the limelight so I don’t have to look at all the sarcastic placards being held up by so-called fans, all the GOT AMBIEN? t-shirts, and all the opponents laughing at me behind their caddies, not to mention that being away from the circuit will hopefully take a LITTLE temptation out of my way and placate my wife, who has demanded that I quit and devote some time to Learning Not To Be Such a Cheating Dick, some place away from the cameras where she and my children won’t be feeling constantly publicly humiliated by the whole world pointing at me and laughing.”
I may be misreading it, though.
A “real man” knows when to hold ’em or fold ’em. May GOD cover Tiger Woods and his family. He’s trying to focus his energies where they’re the most needed at this time.
We all make mistakes and Tiger is still a very young man with a bright future ahead of him. An addiction is an addiction, period. It’ll flare up like “athlete’s foot” from time to time but admitting you have one is the most important step to effectively addressing it.
PEACE BE WITH TIGER WOODS! YOU’RE STILL THE MAN!!!
All of a sudden he’s sorry. If he hadn’t been caught so to speak, he most likely still would be sleeping around. Let’s face it, he didn’t cheat on Elin once; he cheated on her over and over again. NOW all of a sudden his wife and children are important – he should have thought about that a long time ago!
Beating him to death with a stick is pointless now. He screwed up, he admitted it, and now he is going to attempt to fix it if possible. What else is there to say? It’s time to move on to another subject, and leave Tiger Woods and his family to sort it out and try to come to some conclusion in this. It isn’t our business anymore.
Lia – I don’t know that it ever WAS our business. As a previous poster has said, he didn’t rape anyone; it’s between him and his family. Everyone has their dark side and so long as it’s confined to consenting adults, it’s really nobody else’s business.
I’d guess that Elin must have known or suspected on some level that he was screwing around – you can’t be porking dozens of other women for that long without letting something slip, or giving off some vibe… and she probably just shrugged it off and lived with it.
The cheated-upon partner often does, once they accept that their life is not going to be disrupted – that’s the main fear, with adultery: is he/she going to leave me? But once they realise they still have their partner, they still have their family, they still have love, they learn to live with it. They just have to quietly live with the awareness that he’s sticking it to a bunch of other people too.
It’s only when it’s out in the open, when it’s being rubbed in their face, when they have to deal with it publicly, that it becomes unbearable. So now, a private indiscretion that was never anyone’s business but him, his wife and the women he was boffing on the side has become a massive, humiliating farce (with added violence) that threatens a whole family and stigmatises every one of them for life.
I don’t know what point I’m actually MAKING here 🙂 … maybe that, if I were Elin, I’d much prefer the happy husband coming home to me after exhausting his seedy side on hookers and random PR workers, than I would the miserable family decimated by the interference of tabloid morality.
The reason people are interested in stories like this is because it reminds us that celebrities are human, and that in some ways we may actually be better than they are. I may not be famous and I have personal failings, but I am not a sex addict and I am faithful to my spouse.
And he does deserve the beating he’s getting in the press and all over the world by people like us who denounce his behavior. What he did was not just cheat on his wife, he did it repeatedly, he lied to her when she asked him about it, and all the time insisting on living a very private life. Meanwhile he didn’t use protection with women who get paid for sex, and then goes home to his wife? What if he gave her an STD? HIV maybe? Putting his wife and children at risk like that is almost criminal.
Well now we find out why he wanted so much privacy – so he could screw as many women as he could. How can anybody defend his actions?
Tiger woods why your wife and two children were not important before and as soon you had been caught and realized that the world found out how dishonest, selfish, superficial, careless person you realy are, then all over sudden your family became important and want to repair the demage. What would make you love and care your family this time? It’s just crazy…from day one you married you start cheating, obviously you had never loved and cared for her in first place….and you’ll never be. I am sure.. definitly you are a abnormal human being
Hmm, well if it is between him and his family, then what are we all doing commenting on the situation in the first place?! Obviously it was of interest to all of us enough to take the time to read most of the posts about the situation and then comment on it.
Those who are saying what a super thing this is, to admit to the affairs and then focus on his family: GET REAL. The man isn’t sorry that he did these things to his wife, because if he were, he would never have continually done them to her and his children in the first place. He is sorry that he got caught and that it has damaged his once pristine reputation, and now threatens his legacy.
He isn’t leaving golf to work on his family, because there is no saving that relationship, he is taking a break in order to recoup fully from his surgery AND to let the b.s die down. As for his family, he never gave a damn before, so it is hard to imagine that all of a sudden he now gives a damn. No woman could possibly get past a man that had on-going relationships with SEVERAL women, especially since those relationships started (some of them) the night of his bachelor party, continued through TWO preganancies and were a factor during the ENTIRE marriage. No woman, and I don’t care how much counseling happens, no woman could ever get past that in a million years, and frankly, she shouldn’t have to.
He is embarrassed that all of this has come out and he is also shocked at how the public has reacted. His “taking time off” isn’t because he cares so much about repairing the damage he did to his family, it is all about repairing the damage he did to himself, Tiger Woods, the brand and the face of golf, for the last decade.
Everyone can act all indignant, and scream about how this is HIS business and all, but if you really felt that way, then you wouldn’t be commenting on it or reading about it.
Remember, this man was packaged as Mr.Uber athlete, squeaky clean, family man (his insurance commercials where he is reading a bedtime story to his children an example), and it was his circle that did it to him, not us. They sold him as Mr.Nice guy and he obviously is not. Is he a great golfer, yes. Is he a good man, no. He deserves no sympathy from us or his wife. He is a big boy, and he was a big enough boy to create this mess, he should be a big enough boy to get through it without the public feeling badly for him and demanding “LEAVE TIGER ALOOOONE!” (Chris Crocker).
On a side side, if his wife does not leave him and start a new life for her and their children away from him and his sickness (he has to have some sort of problem to be such a serial cheater) then I will say she is the ultimate gold digger, something that I never have thought before. He has disrespected her and the vows they took, multiple times without regard to what any of this would do to her or his family period. Any woman that would stay with a man like that either IS a gold digger or has not one ounce of self respect. An affair, maybe can be forgiven, but 13 and counting?! Not a chance in hell.
No one was outraged over Michael Dougals being outed and raked over the coals years ago for his admitted sex addiction. People fed on every last detail of his sordid activities. I didn;t hear anyone saying ‘Leave him alone, it isn’t like he raped anybody” People milked that scandal too.
For the record, he didn’t rape anyone, no. He did however, put his wife and childrens health at risk(presuming he had sex with his wife while she was pregnant) everytime he had unprotected sex and went home to his wife and had sex with her. That may not be rape, but it certainly is messing with someone’s life and health, and that is just wrong!
My 2 cents.
ITA w GatsbyGal. Also, I think Tiger’s indefinite leave is wrapped around a move to Sweden. The only chance he’ll have to placate Elin is to tuck his tail between his legs and follow her. Let’s see how whupped he is.
@lostpuppy thank you for sharing your story it brought tears to my eyes.
firestarter I hear what you’re saying but I don’t think you should judge her so harshly if she stays for a while. She may be going through a lot of negative emotions and feeling very weak at the shock of all that’s been uncovered, it may take her months to realize the full impact and for her self esteem to come back. While your experiences may have made you a strong and resolute person, she may have not had to grow in this way yet. I don’t know if that last sentence came out right 🙂
I’m shocked by the number of people who would advocate to a woman being serial-cheated on by her husband that she ought to be grateful that he hasn’t asked for a divorce? Because the alternative is a miserable family?
I hope Elin has enough self-esteem that she doesn’t look the other way while her husband brings home disease and potentially fathers more kids without her. That’s not love and it’s not respect, something you’d hope a husband feels for his wife and family.
I’m not surprised he’s taking a leave from golf, and if he meant it (and he wrote it, not his PR hacks), that he knows he may not be able to fix what he’s done with his wife.
So far his big sponsors are standing behind him, but Gillette, Tag Heuer and Gatorade (they said their dropping his sports drink was planned a long time ago, but still..) have all taken down or stopped any advertising they have with him.
I would imagine that he needs to stick close to his lawyers and his kids (partly to make sure they aren’t taken far away from him at a moment’s notice), which could make practicing for upcoming gigs pretty hard.
@DD- Yes, it came out right, and I see what you are saying. I truly do feel for her, because it has to be horrible to deal with all of this mess publicly all the while trying to be a mother and maintain some stability for your children.
You are also right, my experiences have made me perhaps a little stronger or maybe less apt to forgive, but honestly, I couldn’t forgive that many affairs. I don’t think anyone could and be honest with themselves much less their spouse. Someone like that cannot change, IMO.
There’s some combination of competitive “I already won her, who else can I win?” involved in this as well as what looks like classifiable DSM IV narcissism:
Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is a pattern of self-centered or egotistical behavior that shows up in thinking and behavior in a lot of different situations and activities. People with NPD won’t (or can’t) change their behavior even when it causes problems at work or when other people complain about the way they act, or when their behavior causes a lot of emotional distress to others (or themselves? none of my narcissists ever admit to being distressed by their own behavior — they always blame other people for any problems). This pattern of self-centered or egotistical behavior is not caused by current drug or alcohol use, head injury, acute psychotic episodes, or any other illness, but has been going on steadily at least since adolescence or early adulthood.
NPD interferes with people’s functioning in their occupations and in their relationships:
Mild impairment when self-centered or egotistical behavior results in occasional minor problems, but the person is generally doing pretty well.
Moderate impairment when self-centered or egotistical behavior results in: (a) missing days from work, household duties, or school, (b) significant performance problems as a wage-earner, homemaker, or student, (c) frequently avoiding or alienating friends, (d) significant risk of harming self or others (frequent suicidal preoccupation; often neglecting family, or frequently abusing others or committing criminal acts).
Severe impairment when self-centered or egotistical behavior results in: (a) staying in bed all day, (b) totally alienating all friends and family, (c) severe risk of harming self or others (failing to maintain personal hygiene; persistent danger of suicide, abuse, or crime).
That said, what do I know? I don’t know him. So it’s just a theory. But as the child of a narcissistic father (I don’t mean egotistical, I mean narcissistic personality disorder), I see aspects of this story that suggest NPD to me. Could be way off base.
Djork, yeah, both women and marriage vows do get more respect in America than in Europe- try to deal with it, hun. And Europeans are blase about STDs, too… different cultures, for sure.
Obviously golf is associated with “screwing anything and everything”, Kaiser, because it involves a lot of traveling, and time spent apart from his family. The wife and kids could conceivably come along, but it would probably be hectic and disruptive to their lives and they don’t deserve to be put through more stressful situations.
Will Tiger recover? Yes, likely so. But the stain on his image is permanent.
I guess thats why I am not married, I would have already divorced him after the first week of hos with evidence in text mails and messages. The second week with the porn stars I would have asked for full custody of the children and moved back to Sweden and then got on the social scene there like nothing ever happened.
It ain’t over til it’s over. How old was Tiger when his dad took him on Mike Douglas – 3? 4? Tiger’s own kids will be hounded to be the next generation of golf potential. There’s serious damage control going on here but it’s got zip to nil to do with his marriage. He doesn’t give a flying f**k about his kids or wife; he wasn’t raised with the capacity to think of anyone but Tiger.
With Tiger types (male or female) the fun is in doing something they shouldn’t until they get caught. Right now there’s no fun; it won’t be long until he’s back at it.
Rachel “U can tell she’s a prostitute” has been photog’d with another guy and a smile on her face; I’m wagering she’s been in constant contact with Tiger and they’re creating a smokescreen. Wait & see, he’ll end up with this one somehow; I’m betting she’s the Next Ex. Time will tell!
If Elin think that staying with Tiger is the best thing for her and her children then. YOU Go Girl. Now the running away part. That’s what children do. Run when the going gets tough. A real man would stay and face the music. But a real man wouldn’t have done this stupid in the first place. But that aside. Running is never the answer. Because the mess you left before you ran, will still be there when you return. The sooner you deal with the situation of your creating, the quicker it will die down.If you realize it was your mess, you was the one who created the mess and only you can clean the mess up. Elin be strong and hang in there. This too shall pass.
It’s a nice statement, and I wish I could believe that he wrote it and meant it. If he actually wants to become the man that he has projected through a carefully crafted PR campaign, than he has a long row to hoe (ho – haha–sorry). And he will be fortunate indeed if Elin stays with him through it.
Tiger grew up with a solid family life and may have taken it for granted. I haven’t seen anything about his mother, but he’s obviously embarrassed the hell out of her. He was doing this while his father was still alive and his father often attended his tournaments so I don’t know if dad gave a wink-wink to it or didn’t know. I know I was able to hide pretty substantial things from my parents so maybe Tiger fooled him. If not, he got a bad message about how to treat women from home.
I believe that it has finally dawned on him how bad he’s screwed up and he’s taken the advice to work on his home life. Of course all he’s ever known is golf so that’s going to be a challenge. If he applies the same discipline to turning his life around that he’s applied to golf, he should be successful. He’s pretty well been put on notice, though, that what worked for Michael Jordan will not be working for him.
Give him a break. MAYBE he has more skeletons in the closet but leaving his profession isn’t going to stop them from coming out, so why suggest as much? He cheated on his wife, which is a dumb move but does make him a dumb person. Golf is an obsession for the slightest of participants. For HIM to give it up shows a great deal of respect for his wife. Too little too late? Probably. But he has to try.
I’m with Firestarter on this–it IS our business, ’cause they MADE it our business. They said “Hey, look at Tiger, he’s an awesome guy with great values. Don’t you want to put your money behind these great products he endorses?” And while I don’t advocate being a sheep-consumer, its only natural that many of us want our dollars to go to the lesser of the evils out there. Its the same reasoning behind why I won’t buy Paris Hilton’s perfumes, no matter how great they might smell. They want our money, so they sell us an image. We’ve been duped. No wonder we all feel so offended.
And if you ask me, cheaters need to be called out, no matter who’s business its supposed to be. There’s acceptable and unacceptable behavior in this society. We show people what is unacceptable, like rape and child molestation, by ostracizing and condemning those who perpetrate it. Cheating might not be a crime, but it IS despicable (not to mention in this case, he endangered his wife’s health) and I’m not going to feel bad for raking him over the coals. No one should think this behavior is acceptable. I’m not going ot act like it is.
@Lenore – I like your term “tabloid morality”, which is descriptive and thought provoking.
He’ll take a break for a year, stay out of the spotlight, and the PGA will go down on their knees and beg him to come back. Tiger’s the only reason anybody goes to golf tournaments any more anyway. He may be a dirtbag in his personal life, but without him, pro golf would have been dead years ago.
I’m with Firestarter. However, I don’t think Elin can be expected to make a final decision yet. She may need to mull this over for months before she comes to terms with what she needs to do. She is young, and has dreams of how a family should be. Realistic cynicism and self-preservation will no doubt follow in a while. I feel for her, not Tiger. He’s not sorry for what he’s done; he’s sorry he was caught. Class A a**hole.
If things were reversed, what would Tiger do? That should tell you your answer. It is not plain and simple; it is just pain.
I don’t think it was self-pitying at all. He asks for understanding but after that he does not blame anyone but himself for all the damage he has done. He makes no excuses about the pressure and stress of the game and being on tour all the time. How is that self-pitying?
As for taking time off from golf I imagine that his wife isn’t going to trust him out of the house for a very long time if he is still gone for days at a time at tournaments. Although she was going to have a pretty good set of baby sitters watching his every move–the paps wanting that money shot of him cheating. They would have made his life a misery so he gets to avoid that part by staying home.
This is probably the only way he can repair his image, if it can be repaired. People will think he has made a huge sacrifice for the good of his family by giving up golf for a while. If he really is sincere and they have a lot of counseling they might make it through this. Otherwise he was just going to continue to be the punchline in a lot of jokes.
I hope it works out for them. I always admired him so much and what he is doing now is a good thing for his family. I hope he really means it. He’ll only get one chance. He cheats again and nothing will save him. Maybe he’ll grow up and be a man now.
It may not be possible to repair the damage I’ve done, but I want to do my best to try.
In other words, she has dumped me but this way I look like a good guy who did put his marriage& family first. When the dust settles I will pay her off and get back on the game.
Sure his PR wrote this; sure this will die down; sure his wife will stay with him; sure it is a personal matter and not about golf… but how about after his indefinite break from golf? Does anyone really think the press won’t hound him to hell and back? So much for privacy. He went from squeaky clean boring to whoremaster in one day – and every photographer/reporter worth his next meal will follow his every move just waiting for his next transgression. And maybe Tiger needs that to stay on track but, if he does fall off the wagon, he deserves what he gets.
Nobody can keep a family ‘together’ single handed…
Every family is a complex amalgam of relationships – parent to parent, parent to child, child to child etc. which together form a unique environment for growth.
In my experience, healthy self-expression will certainly emerge in a safe space, where experiences and vulnerabilities can be shared with respect and understanding.
Love is in our nature and is our only real will – as in our will to forgive.
Tiger has obviously built an amazing life through golf, proving his lifelong desire to win and achieve incredible standards.
Is he now in a process of being devoured by personal (childhood?) fears he may have taken on and tried to defend himself against.
If he has been driven by a desire to prove himself acceptable, this needs no proof.
His personal comments mostly express his conviction of guilt.
We all live through perceptions and misperceptions, and guilt is one of them.
It is his business, will he find the help to forgive himself?
How can anyone believe he cares for his family? He didn’t cheat once, he did it many and since the beginning of his marriage 5 years ago. People are buying that he is now sorry? Amazing.
If a guy like Tiger, wants to go and sleep with practically every woman he can, then why the on earth, did he ever get married to begin with?
That’s what I don’t get. None of these women can hold a candle to his wife Elin anyway. Look at the gorgeous women who’ve been cheated on, in their relationships, Liz Hurley, Christie Brinkly, Hallee Berry, the list goes on and on.
I’m glad we all know what a total scumbag Tiger is, his so called “nice guy” image is totally a joke, and to think he was a role model to so many kids. I do feel for his wife and kids.
I also think advertisers need to reevaluate all of their celebrity endorsements. I genuinely don’t think they sold a single more Buick, Tag Heur watch or whatever Tiger was associated with because he endorsed it. I think people buy products because they can afford it and like it, not because a celebrity says so. It actually grates on my nerves when I see Lily Allen in ads for Chanel and turns me off from buying their product.
He’s not sorry except about any lost endorsements and probably can’t understand why everyone is coming down on him so hard for this. Guys that are serial adulterers are always self-righteous about what they do and think the rest of the world just doesn’t get it. I know people in the golf world that say he is a real prick and has been for a very long time. Nobody likes him. He reminds me of a sociopath. He smiles but his eyes are dead. Anyway, I think it’s very funny that ads for Thai brides and marriage counselling appear at the top of this post.
“Djork, yeah, both women and marriage vows do get more respect in America than in Europe- try to deal with it, hun. And Europeans are blase about STDs, too… different cultures, for sure.”
Javelin, what on Earth does this even mean?As a happily married European woman for the last 14 years are you attempting to day we dont respect marriage? We’re blasé about STDs? WTF??
If things were reversed, what would Tiger do? That should tell you your answer. It is not plain and simple; it just might be pain.
I just heard that something will be coming out about Elin and another man in next week’s Star. Tiger is still an asshole though having unprotected sex while you and your wife are trying to get pregnant.
While leaving his bag in a locker for some time might be a good idea, leaving golf for a long time will do good to no one, especially not their marriage. Maybe at some point golf actually be of benefit in this case!
Just speaking from my experience of the culture, Rose, not my experience with your spouse. Surely you have noticed that an awful lot of prominent Europeans cheat on their wives, with little to no public condemnation– because public opinion is male-dominated. It seems women command less respect in Europe because history is the center-point of European culture, and historically women have been treated like property. So, if a powerful, married man wants to have mistresses, the only punishment bestowed upon him is the wrath of his wife. Which is basically the position Djork was advocating.
I heard Elin’s condition for staying was tat he quit traveling for golf until the kids were old enough that she and the kids would accompany him…Short leash probably wont work.
Jenni Sanford filed for divorce. I think when I wife is blindsided like this it takes a while to absorb it all and decide what to do for the long haul.
His PR clearly wrote that. Dont they write everything?
I dont see how he can truly love Elin if he was doing this since BEFORE they married. I mean at one stage in their relationship wouldnt someone who was truly in love with the other not desire to be with anyone else? Even if that feeling doesnt last forever. Seems like he has cheated on her for their entire time together.
Do you think it is possible for a man who serially cheats like this to also actually love his wife?
@lostpuppy – stick to the topic. This isn’t a mental health forum. Seriously, do we really need to know your life story?
this is so america! one can be a hero until he/she starts cheating. then society dumps them without thinking of the fact that “un-celebrities” cheat too…
I don’t trust this for one minute. It’s just another PR manipulation to gain public sympathy and gear up for the eventual “come back” as someone else mentioned. I still seriously hope Elin leaves him.
I’m not surprised he is taking a leave from golf. With the media firestorm, all the attention is focused on his personal life. I don’t feel sorry for him but I think he needs to get his priorities in order. Either stay committed to your family and work things out with Elin or get divorced so you can continue to have no strings attached sex with lots of women. Honestly I think Elin is eventually going to divorce him, but they need to get that figured out. And hopefully Tiger can reevalute his life and realize it’s not all about him and that even though he may divorce Elin, he still has kids to think about. Elin didn’t have them all by herself.
Earlier in the day Friday, well before this announcement, I read that Elin told Tiger a condition for her to stay and try to work this out was for him to get away from golf. If that didn’t happen, she and the children would be gone.
Sounds more like the threat of Nike and his other big-name endorsement labels, not the condition of repair for marriage (to bow out of golf/public events temporarily).
Allegedly (and most definitely), the first act of repair to the facade of “marriage” was to throw oodles of money at Elin and to ratify the pre-nup.
This wasn’t to fix the problem (as it clearly indicates Elin as being “the problem”), it was to BUY HER OUT and bring her back into the marketable fold.
The need to rehabilitate the image is tantamount, not the marriage (-that one’s paid for).
I don’t get the anti-American comments on this forum. I’d call that bigotry, for one thing, which are against the terms of use of this site.
These comments are offensive.
And why do you read about American scandals? How do you know what nationality people are that respond to this? You not only are showing your bigotry, but also your ignorance.
MsTrise: you should add to that the anti-european bigotry espoused. All europeans cheat as they have an historically based society? The person that made this statement even reinforced it so it wasn’t even a miscommunication. That comment wnter is so unbelievably insular and dumb it isn’t funny (well only partially funny, in the abstract).
@Ruby7- Please do not be rude to other posters when they are sharing a story that means something to them.
If it bothers you so much, skip over the post. The moderators felt it was fine. End of story.
Lita- Please note that I did not make any such assumption, that “all Europeans cheat,” nor did I imply that the act of adultery is linked to European culture. Rather, I was commenting on the common observation that public opinion on infidelity as it relates to powerful male figures is different in Europe than in America– if you think that’s “bigotry” please consult a dictionary, before you keep embarrassing yourself.
Pointing out the differences between cultures is not bigotry. It is merely discussion.
For Tiger golf is not the problem. Yes he needs to take a break from it because he needs to be with his family full time. If he only played golf and went home to his family, there wouldn’t be so much temptation. Not saying no temptation, just less.
Charles Barkley came out with some comments about Tiger’s friends will be there for him. That’s great but with skirt chasing a-hole friends like you, trouble’s still going to find him. Elin needs to put a ban on Vegas, that place is poison. He’s gambling with $, he’s gambling with his family’s health, he’s gambling with his future.
Elin’s in a tough situation and I wish her all the best. If she wants to stay with Tiger that’s her call and shouldn’t be shot down. He may have crossed the line by too far to get back though.
As for some of the other golfers taking pot shots, it’s pretty petty (Jasper Parnavik excepted). They can’t beat him on the course so they’re getting their kicks in now. His personal drama is not for them to publicly comment on. They should be thankful their chances of placing in the majors got slightly better.
Oh and I believe Steve Williams. When Tiger’s in Vegas or playing at non-golf events, Steve’s in NZ where he lives. He’s paid to carry his clubs, that’s it. Tiger obviously has enough people to organise his ho’s travel arrangements.
Firestarter, there is never and end of story with you because you never be quiet!
@Tained Love- No, I will never be quiet.
Sorry to disappoint you! : (
Have an amazing Sunday!
I can’t believe that one partner that truly cares about the other would be carrying on in the manner that Tiger has and with such skanks. I think the mask is off – the public Tiger was only an image, and the real man is a vastly unpleasant and unkind one. If I were his wife, I’d be out the door so fast –you couldn’t pay me enough to stay. Nothing is worth that. Life is too short to be essentially a paid employee in your private life. Ug.
He asks for forgiveness. How touching. This man is an uber narcissist. Over the weekend, he probably has his minions creating news headlines regarding his wife staying with him, however there are conflicting headlines saying that she’ll leave him after Christmas.
It will be interesting how this plays out. As for those who think that this isn’t the public’s interest, that’s bullsh**. Tiger Woods sold his image to the public. He happily signed away to receive millions. I mean, his Gatorade contract exceeds US$50million dollars per year. Who the hell earns that after the GFC?
His sponsorships aren’t just based on his golf. They’re also based on his straitlaced image as a, wait for it, family man.
Family men don’t bed media whores and porn stars.
This man wore a mask throughout his career, portraying a nice guy image, when really, he’s nothing but an a**hole. To sit there and email that he ‘never felt’ the way he did about his wife how he felt for whorebag Uchitel?
I think that says it all.
Ruby7 I enjoyed reading lostpuppy’s post. It’s really not up to you to decide for the rest of us what should appear here. And if you ever get the urge to share some of your life experiences, especially as they relate to stories on this site, feel free. Do you get it now?
We’ll never know if Tiger is really a narcissist, the truth will be hidden behind an army of PR professionals and media spin doctors. How he treats his wife is something that will unlikely become public knowledge soon. We may be bored about hearing about this story already, but it opens up the wider issue of what is acceptable from a man who is a husband, but more particularly a father. His break from golf could give him his finest victory ever, the chance to reconnect with his family and prove he can be the man Erin needs.
The truth of the matter is that man who loves his wife doesn’t stick his peen in every willing hole. He doesn’t love his wife…the truth is …she’s a trophy. And Elin damn well knows it.
She needs to concede her losses and realize that she’ll never have his heart. If anything she should be happy that she doesn’t have to ever work a day in her life.
@Ruby7 – wow, are you seriously that big of an a**hole to discount someone brave enough to share a personal experience? You need to grow up and work on yourself before you go attacking people like that. By the way, Lostpuppy’s post was entirely relevant and I appreciated it very much. So please quell your idiocy.
@Firestarter – you’re right on in the things you say as usual, imo 😉
@Tainted love – psst, this is a comment section where people discuss things. So the idea that people should just “be quiet” is counter intuitive at best.
I can’t move beyond the other reality: if you sleep with one person, you sleep with everyone they’ve slept with, so imagine Tiger. He’s slept with not only the standard ho-bag, but porno ho as well, and they sleep with three people each film they’re in.
If I were his wife, I’d undergo a few medical tests and consult divorce lawyers. Not only is Tiger an arrogant narcissist (inconsiderate, thinks the world revolves around him ie accumulates a harem to prove it,etc), but he never considered his wife’s sexual health.
If I hear one more person say “We all make mistakes” in defense of Tiger Woods, I’ll scream. No, we don’t all make the kind of mistakes that Tiger Woods has been making for many years. Give me a break.
@ Samantha – i agree with you. He did not make this mistake once – he made the same mistake over and over and over he spent thousands of dollars on skanky hookers and entertainment – he could have used that money to do something nice for Elin – especially because she’s the mother of his children and has been supportive of him and his career – and at the end of all that; she’s the fool
He is a dick – i am no longer a fan
pathetic!!!
I think he needs to have his plastic surgery “finished” then return from “sexual addition clinic” all “cured. HA
HE WAS A HO WHEN SHE MET HIM AND SHE KNEW THAT SO LIVE WITH IT . SHE KNEW ABOUT OTHER WOMEN BEFORE IT REACHED THE TABLOIDS SO WHY DIDN’T SHE LEAVE BEFORE
@ JILL: Who’s supposed to “live with it”? Not me.
I think he needs to take an indefinite break with public life altogether. Buy an island in Thailand and disappear, slutboy.
I wish people would learn to stop poking their noses in other people’s business and let that man work it out with is wife. The media makes me sick always looking for dirt to expose on someone. For the people who got something to say, mind your own damn business. I’ve learned that the people who are always quick to judge, are the people who are the most fuc**ed up and have more issues than the law allows.
Ask yourself this…Do you know what your husband or wife is doing when you’re not around?
What skeletons do you have in your closet that nobody but you and God know about?
Everybody has problems and don’t think because your problem is not as big as his, you have the right to judge him. Elin has been with that man long enough to know something was going on. When you get married, you become one. Which means you can sense when something is not right in your marriage. For those women who play dumb, they know in their hearts it’s some bullsh*t in the game but they really don’t want to hear the truth because it hurts.
Leave that man alone and let him have some time with his wife. She’s the only person who can judge him at this point, his family should not have a say either. They made a vow to eachother in the sight of God, and no one else was standing there when they said those vows so only them two need to go to God and ask for God to forgive them for breaking their convenant.
As for the bit*hes who tried to break up their home, all of yall need to got sit down somewhere and go into hiding. It’s a shame that you would even want to come out and tell the world that you were screwing a married man. That just shows you that a Hoe will do anything and stop at nothing to get a dollar. I hope you know that whenever you plan to have kids they will grow up only to hear that their momma is a low down dirty homewrecker.
Please don’t ever think about getting married because believe me, you got yours coming…what goes around comes around. Someday you will want to have a husband (your own, not someone else’s)! and that’s when you will walk in Elin’s shoes and see how it feels to know some sceezer has had your man!
There’s one thing you should never do and that’s come in between something that God has put together…(something you should have learned at home). Maybe you should take the time to read what those vows really say and digest what they mean. It makes me wonder, if your parents are married, what did your mother do to get your father because the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. If you were my daughter, I would talk about your A$$ like a dog until you felt as low as one!!!
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